Toys and other devices that discharge projectiles have been designed in the past with various housing and internal elements. These devices are often difficult to use or even dangerous for children, or are too expensive, complicated or insufficiently robust.
Examples of prior patents include U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,854, for a “Spring Type Bottle Cap Pistol” issued in 1977 to Lehman that purports to disclose a pistol to propel and spin a bottle cap by attaching a compression spring to a plunger in a lower chamber, attaching a hammer to the plunger, where the hammer extends through a slot in a upper chamber where the bottle cap is loaded. The plunger is pulled back by a user to compress the spring and the plunger is restrained by a trigger assembly. The hammer is located off-center from the bottle cap so that when a trigger is pulled, the plunger is released and under the biasing force of the spring accelerates the hammer and bottle cap along the upper chamber to discharge the bottle cap while also inducing a spin in the cap. A restraining pin extends through a slot to abut an interior surface wall of the bottle cap to prevent the bottle cap from moving until the trigger is depressed at which time the pin moves out of the way. Another patent issued to Lehman later in 1977, No. 4,059,089 for a “Flying Saucer Launching Pistol” purports to disclose a pistol very similar to that disclosed in his earlier patent but with a pair of ramps in the firing chamber tapered so as to center different diameter discs when each is loaded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,215 for a “Disk Toy And Launcher” issued in 1979 to Kettlestrings, purports to disclose a mechanical launcher for a toy disk that has a recess for engaging and bending a leaf spring when loaded. After bending the spring, the disk is received by tabs of catch members in the launcher. When a plunger dislodges the tabs the spring propels the disk away from the launcher. In 1999, a patent issued to Vanek and others for a “Ring Airfoil Launcher” U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,970, and purports to disclose a rifle for safely launching ring airfoils. The rifle includes a coil spring that is extended by a handle to cock the rifle, and a trigger to hold and release the stretched spring. A similar product for launching ring airfoils, known as the Vortex Tornado, also includes a coil spring that is extended by a rearward pulled handle but the product does not have a trigger. When the handle is retracted, pulled rearward, to a predetermined location, the airfoil is released.
These patents and devices are of some interest, however, they do not disclose or illustrate a simple, inexpensive, fun to use and robust toy item.